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Topic Review (Newest First)

05-04-2012 08:16 PM

chevy355ss

Sorry havnt got a chance to get on here lately....new in the engine building area and did not know about having to check the ring gap ooops....thinking back they did want to go in pretty hard so im thinking the rings needed to be filed to fit just right and ended up cracking on the way in.....hoping to have it tore down next week sometime and i'll let you all know what i find

Thanks for the responses they really helped!!

05-02-2012 03:35 PM

BigEd36

Quote:

Originally Posted by zildjian4life218

Does anyone know if the KB-231 require this larger ring gap? Thats what I have in my engine and have had ring seal issues with it.... i just wanna rule this out.

Here's the KB ring end gap guidelines, this should make it pretty easy to figure what your ring end gaps should be:

05-02-2012 12:16 PM

cobalt327

Quote:

Originally Posted by zildjian4life218

Does anyone know if the KB-231 require this larger ring gap? Thats what I have in my engine and have had ring seal issues with it.... i just wanna rule this out.

Does anyone know if the KB-231 require this larger ring gap? Thats what I have in my engine and have had ring seal issues with it.... i just wanna rule this out.

05-02-2012 09:53 AM

AutoGear

Quote:

Originally Posted by cobalt327

There are KB hypereutectic pistons that need more top ring gap than 'normal'. If you have a set of those in it and the gaps were set the way a cast piston is usually gapped...

Im with Cobalt. I remember getting the KB Hypers years ago and they had a little paper flyer in the box that specified the 'odd' gap.
My friend bought some of the same pistons via the internets; no paperwork. He set up a conventional ring pack and cracked or distorted the ring lands in all 8 pistons.

Why only 4 pistons though. You may have several problems manifesting themselves here. Did you check for interference with the valves? Was the block decked? Heads shaved? What is your compression ratio and what fuel are you running. What are you using for timing?
you might want to post your assembly procedure for us to look at. Not to judge, sometimes we miss a step.

05-01-2012 10:30 PM

cobalt327

There are KB hypereutectic pistons that need more top ring gap than 'normal'. If you have a set of those in it and the gaps were set the way a cast piston is usually gapped...

05-01-2012 09:26 PM

zildjian4life218

Sounds like to me the rings were too tight and butted together and when they have no where to go they will crack the ring lands. Did it happen again? Idk what did you set the top and second ring gaps to?

05-01-2012 09:21 PM

68NovaSS

Are rings file to fit? What were your end gaps?

05-01-2012 08:33 PM

BOBCRMAN@aol.com

Wrong pistons/heads, wrong timing, wrong gas, pre-ignition, overheat. one or more of the above..

05-01-2012 08:24 PM

chevy355ss

Pistons and rings cracked

I just finished rebuilding a sbc 350 which had a problem with extreme blow by coming out of the valve covers...tore engine down to find 4 pistons (#1,5,8,6) had cracked ring lands, rings, and #5 cam side skirt broke off. Engine was .03 over and I had originally put std rings so I gave the damage up to that...Finally get the rebuilt engine with .03 rings and pistons (hypers) and only about 40 miles later the same extreme blow by coming from valve covers....Have not had a chance to do any tests or tear into it to see what is causing it this time but I have a pretty good feeling its either the rings or pistons cracked again....I am completely stumped as to wy this is happening....Any suggestions??????????